YellowSub1962
05-29-2001, 08:42 AM
Forest Service Chief Take Office
By KATHERINE PFLEGER
.c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - The double doors to the Forest Service chief's office are
gone, their removal one of Dale Bosworth's first acts after he took over the
agency.
To some, the move symbolizes a return to tradition, with the chief
communicating directly with local officials around the country. But it's not
clear yet how much the veteran forester - whose forest career started in 1966
- will listen to environmentalists, who are already taking aim at his
policies.
Bosworth, 57, says he plans more than cosmetic changes at his agency, which
oversees about 192 million acres of national forests and grasslands.
He said he's comfortable with the direction taken in the past 10 to 15 years
toward improving ecosystems and watersheds and away from big timber sales,
which have declined more than 80 percent since 1990.
But Bosworth wants agency employees and citizens who live near forests to
have a greater say on forest management.
And he sees room to offer more timber from federal forests for sale, though
he won't talk numbers.
In perhaps his most high-profile undertaking, he is working with Agriculture
Secretary Ann Veneman to revise the ``roadless rule'' - a Clinton
administration ban on logging and road-building on a third of the nation's
most pristine federal forests.
Bosworth wants to ensure that people who live in remote places and know about
roadless areas have a voice in crafting the policy.
``I generally support protecting roadless values,'' he said in his office
across the street from the Washington Monument. ``My big concern is that
we'll end up with all of the national forest either wilderness or roaded, and
we won't have the country that's in between.''
The administration is on course to offer amendments to the rule in June and
then allow more public comment.
The Bush administration has defended the roadless policy against court
challenges, including one in Idaho. But environmentalists say the federal
attorneys did such a bad job arguing the case that the Idaho judge used their
language when he blocked the ban from taking effect earlier this month.
The administration hasn't decided if it will appeal, as environmental groups
have, Bosworth said.
People who know Bosworth call him a listener - to loggers, ranchers,
conservationists and others.
But environmentalists who initially celebrated his selection in April now say
their optimism has dimmed as he revamps the road ban and suggests increases
in the timber harvest.
``We hoped the job of the chief was to stand up to the political masters,''
said Michael Francis, national forest program director for The Wilderness
Society.
Timber industry groups, meanwhile, are heartened.
``In the Clinton era ... we saw all sorts of new people that didn't have a
relationship with the forest,'' said Chris West, vice president of the
industry's American Forest Resource Council.
Bosworth, he said, ``has experience on the ground.''
Internally, some of Bosworth's early changes are symbolic ones.
For instance, there are those who find meaning in the removal of the glass
doors and his decision to use the desk of the agency's legendary first
leader, Gifford Pinchot, a conservationist who established scientific,
sustainable use of forests. Some stop in just to see him - and the desk.
``Dale made it clear from the day he accepted the job ... that when folks
come into the Washington office, that folks come in and see him,'' said
Kathleen McAllister, the acting regional forester for the Northern Rockies,
who has worked under Bosworth for more than three years and counting.
Bosworth could face a tough trial during this summer's wildfire season. Last
year's blazes charred more than 7 million acres, and experts don't expect
this year to be markedly better - especially given drought in much of the
country.
Congress roughly doubled the agency's wildfire funding for this year to $1.9
billion, to rehabilitate burned land and to undertake efforts such as forest
thinning to reduce wildfire fuels.
Bosworth sees thinning and other forest health work as a good way to increase
the amount of timber offered for sale. But it will be difficult to lay the
groundwork - hiring people, buying equipment - in time, he said.
``It's a big job, but if we don't perform in the end, we won't get to keep
those dollars,'' he said.
Bosworth started with the agency as a forester on the St. Joe National Forest
near Avery, Idaho, in 1966 and later moved around the country, per agency
tradition. His father was a forest supervisor and his son is an agency
forester.
Before coming to Washington, Bosworth lived in Missoula, Mont., overseeing a
region that included 12 forests and four grasslands in the Northern Rockies.
What's different in the nation's capital?
``Not having quiet,'' he said as a motorcycle roared past his office.
On the Net:
Forest Service: http://www.fs.fed.us/
AP-NY-05-28-01 1232EDT
By KATHERINE PFLEGER
.c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - The double doors to the Forest Service chief's office are
gone, their removal one of Dale Bosworth's first acts after he took over the
agency.
To some, the move symbolizes a return to tradition, with the chief
communicating directly with local officials around the country. But it's not
clear yet how much the veteran forester - whose forest career started in 1966
- will listen to environmentalists, who are already taking aim at his
policies.
Bosworth, 57, says he plans more than cosmetic changes at his agency, which
oversees about 192 million acres of national forests and grasslands.
He said he's comfortable with the direction taken in the past 10 to 15 years
toward improving ecosystems and watersheds and away from big timber sales,
which have declined more than 80 percent since 1990.
But Bosworth wants agency employees and citizens who live near forests to
have a greater say on forest management.
And he sees room to offer more timber from federal forests for sale, though
he won't talk numbers.
In perhaps his most high-profile undertaking, he is working with Agriculture
Secretary Ann Veneman to revise the ``roadless rule'' - a Clinton
administration ban on logging and road-building on a third of the nation's
most pristine federal forests.
Bosworth wants to ensure that people who live in remote places and know about
roadless areas have a voice in crafting the policy.
``I generally support protecting roadless values,'' he said in his office
across the street from the Washington Monument. ``My big concern is that
we'll end up with all of the national forest either wilderness or roaded, and
we won't have the country that's in between.''
The administration is on course to offer amendments to the rule in June and
then allow more public comment.
The Bush administration has defended the roadless policy against court
challenges, including one in Idaho. But environmentalists say the federal
attorneys did such a bad job arguing the case that the Idaho judge used their
language when he blocked the ban from taking effect earlier this month.
The administration hasn't decided if it will appeal, as environmental groups
have, Bosworth said.
People who know Bosworth call him a listener - to loggers, ranchers,
conservationists and others.
But environmentalists who initially celebrated his selection in April now say
their optimism has dimmed as he revamps the road ban and suggests increases
in the timber harvest.
``We hoped the job of the chief was to stand up to the political masters,''
said Michael Francis, national forest program director for The Wilderness
Society.
Timber industry groups, meanwhile, are heartened.
``In the Clinton era ... we saw all sorts of new people that didn't have a
relationship with the forest,'' said Chris West, vice president of the
industry's American Forest Resource Council.
Bosworth, he said, ``has experience on the ground.''
Internally, some of Bosworth's early changes are symbolic ones.
For instance, there are those who find meaning in the removal of the glass
doors and his decision to use the desk of the agency's legendary first
leader, Gifford Pinchot, a conservationist who established scientific,
sustainable use of forests. Some stop in just to see him - and the desk.
``Dale made it clear from the day he accepted the job ... that when folks
come into the Washington office, that folks come in and see him,'' said
Kathleen McAllister, the acting regional forester for the Northern Rockies,
who has worked under Bosworth for more than three years and counting.
Bosworth could face a tough trial during this summer's wildfire season. Last
year's blazes charred more than 7 million acres, and experts don't expect
this year to be markedly better - especially given drought in much of the
country.
Congress roughly doubled the agency's wildfire funding for this year to $1.9
billion, to rehabilitate burned land and to undertake efforts such as forest
thinning to reduce wildfire fuels.
Bosworth sees thinning and other forest health work as a good way to increase
the amount of timber offered for sale. But it will be difficult to lay the
groundwork - hiring people, buying equipment - in time, he said.
``It's a big job, but if we don't perform in the end, we won't get to keep
those dollars,'' he said.
Bosworth started with the agency as a forester on the St. Joe National Forest
near Avery, Idaho, in 1966 and later moved around the country, per agency
tradition. His father was a forest supervisor and his son is an agency
forester.
Before coming to Washington, Bosworth lived in Missoula, Mont., overseeing a
region that included 12 forests and four grasslands in the Northern Rockies.
What's different in the nation's capital?
``Not having quiet,'' he said as a motorcycle roared past his office.
On the Net:
Forest Service: http://www.fs.fed.us/
AP-NY-05-28-01 1232EDT